Monday, July 11, 2005

With the All-Star game being played in Detroit tomorrow night I thought this quote by Sparkey Anderson about Willie Stargell on the eve of the 1971 game played in Detroit was appropriate.

"He's such a big, strong guy he should love that porch. He's got power enough to hit home runs in any park, including Yellowstone."

Of course this year's game won't be played at the old Tiger Stadium. Comerica Park can be friendly to left handers when you hit it down the line (330') and in the alley (365') but is bigger in left where the line is at 345' and the alley at 370'. Originally the power alley in left-center was 395' but they moved it in 2003. Center field is at 420'. I would look for a left-hander to win the homerun contest tonight. My money is on David Ortiz.

Here are a couple other of my favorite all-star quotes:

"Arch (Ward) called me one day and asked me to have dinner with him. I didn't know he had anything in mind other than a sociable dinner until he sprang the All-Star Game idea on me, and I was flabbergasted at first. The idea was sound enough since that was the first year of the World's Fair in Chicago and Arch wanted to make an All-Star Game one of the highlights. His sales pitch was that it would be a wonderful thing for baseball. I told Arch I would submit the proposition to the owners. The American League owners finally agreed after considerable discussion that it would join strictly as an attraction for the 1933 Fair. At first the National League opposed it, but finally agreed to play the game for only one year. The game turned out to be so wonderful and so well accepted by the fans that the owners quickly agreed to continue the game and it became a solid fixture." - Will Harridge in Professional Baseball: The First 100 Years (1976)